The Hero of Time
by Rytex
Summary: My novelization of Ocarina of Time, only it will be darker than it was.  It will start out really happy-go-lucky, but once we reach the Future, eerything will take a turn for the dark, and therefore, it will be rated T.  ZeLink.
1. Summons From the Great Deku Tree

**Hey all. I decided to start posting my OoT Novelization now. Hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda. If I did, It would be Link and Malon in OoT, Link and Midna in TP, Link and Tetra in WW/PH, and Link and Zelda in all OTHER games.**

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Chapter 1: Summons From the Great Deku Tree

In the ancient forests of Hyrule, long have I served as their guardian. I am the Great Deku Tree. Through uncounted years I have protected this forest, its people, and its treasure from malevolent intruders. Yet I can feel it on the winds. Something evil is coming. Just days ago, I met with a mysterious stranger. His name was Ganondorf. He asked me for the Forest's treasure. I sensed a great power lying inside of him as well as a great destiny tied to Hyrule. This man would undoubtedly play a huge role in the years of Hyrule's existence. I asked him for his intent to use it.

He answered with obvious ire. "My reasons are my own, wise tree."

I could not give it to him. That emerald which Farore herself entrusted to me can only go to the one of immeasurable courage.

He was enraged and I saw the man for what he was: a beast of darkness. He cursed me to wither. Then, when I was dead, he would plunder the treasure from my dead self. He vanished as quickly as he had come.

But now, I sense that the boy with no fairy is about to embark upon his journey. It's time he awakened to his quest.

The tree shook and groaned as he sounded his call to the forest.

"Navi! Where art thou! Come hither!"

As quickly as her wings could carry her, the fairy flew to him.

"I am here! What is it, Great Deku Tree?" she asked.

"There is evil on the wind. Dost thou sense it? Those who are tied to the future of Hyrule can. One such person is the boy who lives with no fairy." he said.

"Link? How can-"

"He is destined to combat the great evil. Navi, thou must go unto him. Thou art to be his companion and guide. Go to him now and bring him hither at once. I have no time to answer the questions I know are on thine heart. Fly! The fate of Hyrule, nay, the World depends upon your speed!"

Navi said nothing, merely turned around and sped off.

She flew around, looking for the boy's treehouse. When she found it, she felt a wave of great evil spread out from the boy and, for an instant, she saw his dream.

The boy stood in front of a wall. A drawbridge led to a town. Inside, monsters attacked the townspeople. They were dying quickly. A white horse sped toward him. A rider with long white hair and blue armor sped toward him. She was bent low over a girl his age. She wore violet clothing and a hair covering. As soon as the horse had passed, Link turned. Another rider stood before him.

He was on an armored black horse. He wore armor of fine make with a curious symbol etched into it. An upward and a downward triangle almost back to back, but a line connecting two circles was between them. The man had dark, almost green skin, with amber eyes, flaming red hair that stuck straight back, and a golden jewel in the middle of his forehead. He saw Link and began to laugh. He said something unintelligible, but Link wouldn't answer. Then the man drew a sphere of black energy from the air around him and launched it at the boy.

With a start, Link woke.

He looked around wildly. Then he caught sight of Navi.

"Hello." she said.

Link said nothing, merely looked at her cautiously.

"Link, don't worry. I'm Navi. I come to bring you to the Great Deku Tree."

Link nodded, remaining silent. He put on a green tunic and a cone-shaped hat. He walked out and yawned.

"Yahoo!" came a shout from below.

His friend Saria was running up. She was wearing a similar green tunic. She had green hair and blue eyes. She waved up to him.

"Hi Link!"

Link waved and climbed down the ladder to his house.

"You got a fairy! Wow! Now you're finally one of us Link!" she said.

Link grinned.

"Can't wait to see the look on Mido's face when he sees that I've got a fairy now." he said.

"I know, right?" she said.

"Any idea where he is, anyway?" he asked.

She considered the matter.

"I think he's over there." she said, pointing off toward the entrance to the Great Deku Tree's hovel.

"Thanks!" said Link, taking off.

He ran over to where Mido stood.

He had larger cheeks, a rather upturned nose, blue eyes, and a lot of freckles.

"Whaaaat! You got a fairy!" Mido shouted.

"Yep!" Link said.

"And I suppose you want to see the Great Deku Tree." he said.

"Yeah. The Great Deku Tree summoned him." said Navi.

"Huh. Well, for your own good, I can't let you through."

"Why not!" asked Navi.

"There's some weird plant things down there. They're attacking everyone who goes down that way. If you need to talk to him, you'll need a sword and shield. I know you can buy shields from our shop for 40 rupees, but as for where you'll get a sword, maybe there's one in the Lost Woods, but I highly doubt it."

"Where'll he get 40 rupees?" asked Navi.

They heard a cutting noise.

Link had picked up a light bush to reveal a red rupee. He grinned brightly.

"Whaaaat!" shouted Mido again.

Even Navi was startled.

"How did a red rupee get under a bush?"

Then Link got a devilish grin on his face and sped off toward a house in the distance.

"Wait Link!"

Link ran into the house to reveal a bunch of porcelain pots.

He grinned devilishly and picked one up.

"Wait Link! I don't think that's a good-"

Smash.

"Idea..."

Link picked up the blue rupee inside and began to smash every pot inside.

Soon, he walked out of the house with a huge grin on his face and 67 rupees in his wallet.

Navi sweat-dropped.

Link walked into the shop and bought a shield and walked over to the Kokiri Training Field.

"Link, Mido said we'd find a sword in the Lost Woods."

"Ah, but I found something here." he said, crawling through a little hole.

He emerged into a secluded grove.

"Link? What is this?"

"An extra wing to the training area. Oh, watch out for the boulder."

"Boulder?"

All of a sudden, a rather large rock rolled around a corner and smashed Navi into a wall.

Link however, didn't notice anything and went up to an ornate chest. Inside was a short sword.

He ran over to where Navi had been smashed, peeled her off the wall, and stuck her in his hat.

"That was not fun at all." she said.

He grunted and ran over to Mido.

"Got 'em." he said, brandishing the sword and shield.

Mido grunted and moved to the side.

Link walked up and yelped as a Deku Baba sprung up and snapped at him.

Link smacked him with the sword and it stuck up. Then Link cut the wood stem that attached itself to the ground.

He killed three more, then reached a clearing in the forest.

Navi flew forward.

"O Great Deku Tree, I have brought you Link."

The tree stirred.

"Thou hast done well, Navi." came his deep rumble.

Link averted his gaze.

"Link, the time has come for your true quest to be revealed to you."

"What?" he asked.

"You must first prove yourself. Your courage will be the tool you need to accomplish this task. Inside of me, there is a creature that has cursed me."

"What!" they both said at once.

"This creature is killing me. You must go within my depths and kill it. Only then will you awaken yourself to your duty to Hyrule."

A hole opened in the tree's base.

Link edged forward cautiously, but then he entered.

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**R&R please.**


	2. The Secrets of the Tree

**I had to look up a map to get the GDT dungeon right. It was quite fun to do, describing Link's journey through the dungeon, though I did leave out a few details, unintentionally, but I did completely leave out the Gold Skultullas on purpose.**

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Chapter 2: The Secrets of the Tree

Link gasped as he entered a huge room that led all the way up to the top of the tree itself. There was a huge hole in the ground, but it was covered with a web. Babas were everywhere. He cautiously edged around them.

"Hey Link! Look over there!" said Navi. She flew over to a wall with vines all over it.

"You could probably climb up these." she said.

Link nodded and climbed up to a platform with a door. A group of aggresive and large spiders on the wall prevented him from going further. He entered the room. A door on the other side was locked. A pile of grass was in the middle.

"Link, be careful of that grass patch. A Deku Scrub is in there. Whenever it spits it's nuts at you-"

Link started giggling.

"Oh shut up." she said, hitting him on the head.

He rubbed the spot.

"Stupid teenaged idiot. Anyway, use your shield to reflect them back at him."

Link edged forward. A small wooden creature peeked out from the ground. It had yellow eyes and a snout that could be made to shoot nuts at people.

It spat one at Link, who whipped out his shield and deflected it. The nut smacked the scrub, which ran out saying, "Please don't hurt me!"

He ran over to the door and unlocked it quickly, then burrowed into the ground.

Link went into it. A chest sat across a gap. The gap had a floating platform in the middle of it.

Link jumped across. The platform fell as he jumped to the other side.

He opened the chest to reveal a slingshot with a bag of small seeds inside.

He picked it up and tested it.

"Yeah, great, but how will we get out of here?" asked Navi.

"With the ladder."

"I beg your pardon?"

Link pointed above the ledge that led to the door. A ladder was caught in the same webbing that covered the hole.

Link shot it with a seed. It dropped free of the webbing.

Link junped into the gap and climbed up it.

He returned to the central room. He shot the spiders, then continued up. He saw a small plank extend from the ledge at the top. He looked at the webbing, then decided to test his theory.

"Link, what are you doing?"

"Breaking the web."

"What?"

Link grabbed Navi and jumped.

Navi screamed as they fell. Link landed on the web. It stretched. For a moment, it didn't seem like it would split.

Then it did. They plummeted a few extra feet, then landed in a pool of water.

Link took in his surroundings. He was in a room with a high ledge on the other end of the room. A torch was lit on one end of the room. A web blocked off a door. Link couldn't reach the other side of the room, so he grabbed the torch and burned the webbing away, then returned it.

He went inside. A Deku Scrub patch was in the ground. He quickly reflected the nut. It again ran around saying, "Don't hurt me!"

He explained to Link that Queen Gohma, the creature in the Deku Tree, was guarded by his brothers. He said to defeat his brothers in the order 2-3-1. Twenty-three is number one. Then he disappeared.

He entered a room with a spike pole trap in the center. It had water underneath it. He saw a switch in the water and a platform floating by it.

He jumped in, pushed the switch, and got on the platform. The water level lowered through a drain. Link got on the platform and rowed it to the other side and entered the door.

He was in a tunnel and it led to a tunnel he could crawl into. He crawled into it and it led him to the high ledge he couldn't reach. He saw a small block and pushed it down to provide a way up. He grabbed the torch from earlier that was in the wall and climbed back up. Another hole with a web in it was in the middle of the higher ledge's floor.

He burned it away and jumped in. He saw three patches of grass and remembered the advice.

"2-3-1 Link!" shouted Navi as he ran to the one in the middle and defeated it. Then he defeated the third, then the first. They all ran away. He entered the door that revealed itself with their defeat.

It led to a dark and foggy room with four pillars.

He heard a noise from the roof, then saw dust fall from it. He looked up.

A spider-esque creature hung from the ceiling, looking at him with a beady yellow eye.

It jumped down and menaced him.

Link took out his slingshot and shot a seed at it's eye. It let out a howl of pain, but not before Link managed to stick his sword in the eye.

The beast let out a roar. It began to turn black as it died.

Then it's body fell apart. It's eye was left. Link pulled the blade free, wiped it on the ground, and watched as a blue circle appeared on the ground.

Link stepped into it.

He felt himself be lifted out of the tree and appear in front of it.

"Thou hast done well, Link. It is time for thou to hear thine quest."

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**R&R.**


	3. Legend of Hyrule

**Just so you know, this is what I believe to be the Timeline, up to Ocarina of Time of course. IF I GET EVEN A SINGLE REVIEW THAT IS MORE CONCERNCED WITH MY TIMELINE THAN THE STORY, YOU SHALL FIND YOURSELF ON MY WALL OF SHAME!**

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Chapter 3: Legend of Hyrule

In the time before Hyrule, three golden goddesses descended upon the chaos that was the earth.

Din, with her strong flaming arms, brought together the land and created the red Earth.

Nayru, with her vast wisdom, gave the spirit of law unto the world.

Farore, with her foresight, cultivated the land and created the creatures that would uphold the law.

Thus was Hyrule created.

The goddesses, their labors completed, departed for their realm. At the spot where they vanished, a golden relic remained. Three Triangles arranged to form one triangle, the Triforce.

Any who touched it would have their wishes granted.

Thus was it too powerful for the common people.

A terrible and bloody war began soon after. Monsters, created from the forces of darkness, invaded the uncivilized land. The Picori, a race of tiny elvish creatures, gave the gift of the Sword of the Picori to a young man named Gustaf. It was then that the brave young man gathered many of the tribes of people together and created the nation of Hyrule. Together, they drove away the monsters. The grateful people named Gustaf their king and established the Royal Family.

It was a time where Hyrule flourished.

Then, when all was light, a shadow, born from one of the Picori, invaded. The sorceror, Vaati, attempted to gain ultimate power from the Princess of Hyrule, Zelda. A young man took up the Picori Blade, which had been reforged to include the power of the four elements, now called the Four Sword, and sealed Vaati away within the blade. But all was not done.

The monsters Vaati summoned began to invade once again. The people were desperate.

Then, a young man of the Sheikah Tribe discovered a portal in Death Mountain. It led to a golden land. In this golden land, he discovered the Triforce. With it's power he ended the monster invasion.

But there came those who wanted to control the Triforce for their own ends. Using an unknown magic, a group of dark interlopers attempted to dominate the Sacred Realm. It was then that the goddesses ordered the four light spirits, Ordona, Eldin, Faron, and Lanayru to seal them away.

The terrible conflict was not resolved there.

The Royal Family was entrusted with the Triforces of Power and Wisdom. The Prince, Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, believed that his sister Zelda knew where the location of the Triforce of Courage was hidden. He tried to convince her to entrust the knowledge to him, but he could not. When he began to despair, he went to the shrine that the Four Sword had been placed to speak to Vaati.

If Vaati were to coerce Zelda into telling them the location, he would allow Vaati to extract the Light Force from Zelda. Vaati, however, believed that the Light Force was more powerful than the Triforce.

Both intended to doublecross the other, so they agreed.

Vaati attempted to play his part convincingly by trying to coerce Zelda, but she knew nothing. Vaati, when he believed that he couldn't get it out of her, put her in a deep sleep to extract the Light Force from her. Daphnes by now had realized his folly. He attacked Vaati and imprisoned him in the Four Sword again. Contrite because of his actions, he set Zelda in the Sacred North Palace and decreed that all firstborn females in the Royal Family were to be given the name Zelda to remind him of his folly.

The goddesses cursed him as well. He was doomed to live to see the end of Hyrule and his family.

Now Daphnes sits on the throne of Hyrule. He succeeded in uniting Hyrule once again. This time, he succeeded where Gustaf failed and fully united the land. He even signed a formal armistice with the Gerudo of the Desert, the Gorons of Death Mountain, and the Zora of Lake Hylia.

The Triforce has been guarded by the Royal Family in full ever since the mistake Daphnes made.

"That is thine quest." he said.

He had recited the same story for Link, but with one interruption.

When the Deku Tree mentioned the goddesses, Link interjected, "Were they hot?"

The tree answered, "No, they actually looked like Oscar awards, but that isn't the point."

"So I've got to go find the Triforce?"

"Yes and no. Thou must find it but only to protect it from the man from the desert."

"What man from the desert?" asked Navi.

"He visited me in secret and demanded the Spiritual Stone of Forest. Of course, I sensed his malevolent intent and denied him the jewel. He cursed me with the creature thou hast fought, Link."

"But what does that mean I have to do to protect it?"

"Thine efforts against the curse were valiant, but it was far too late. I have not long to live. My twilight is upon me. Therefore, I will give thou the Spiritual Stone of Forest, The Kokiri's Emerald, to take to the Princess of Hyrule. She will know what to do."

There was a glow from within the tree's branches and a spherical emerald wrapped in gold shaped like the Kokiri symbol fell to him.

"Thou must go to Hyrule Castle. There, thou wilt surely meet the Princess of Destiny, Zelda."

"But-" started Navi.

"Navi, go now. I en-"

He began to falter.

"I en... treat... thee... Good... bye..."

The tree began to turn black.

"No! Great Deku Tree!" shouted Navi.

Link watched in horrified fascination as the tree turned from a soft brown with vivid green leaves to black with a grey trunk.

The tree was dead.

Link turned away slowly and walked away.

Navi stared at the tree for a long moment before following him.

As they emerged, Mido saw him.

"What just happened? What was all that groaning?" he wondered.

"The Great Deku Tree is dead." said Navi.

"WHAT!"

Everyone's heads turned in their direction.

"He died. A gohma was inside of him-"

"I bet Link killed him!" Mido shouted.

"Nonsense Mido! How would he do it?" came a call from Fado.

"Yeah, seriously. It's not like he's fifty feet tall." came Saria's argument.

Link felt satisfied that Mido turned pale.

"Whatever. The Deku Tree Sprout will soon start growing. Whenever he dies, the Great Deku Tree always plants a seed nearby which grows into a new Deku Tree." said Saria.

"How do you know?" asked Mido.

"He told me once."

Link edged away from the group of Kokiri and started walking toward the exit of the Forest. He entered the wooden log that was the path and walked along a bridge, then stopped as he heard a voice.

"So you're just going to leave without saying goodbye?"

It was Saria and it was very accusing.

"No. I have to do this. The Deku Tree told me before he died that I have to go to Hyrule and find the Princess." he said.

Saris looked at him for a long moment.

"Here. I want you to have this."

She held out a carved wooden ocarina. It was a light brown in color.

"I carved it today. Somehow, I had this feeling that you were going to leave the forest today, so I made it."

Link took it, then put it in his backpack.

"Remember me whenever you play it, okay?" she asked.

Link nodded.

Then he turned and exited the Kokiri Forest to enter the strange and unknown lands beyond the forest.

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**R&R.**


	4. Hyrule

**Here's where I decided to tone down my feelings about Kaepora Gaebora being a stalker, and actually deciding to portray him as a helpful bird.**

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Chapter 4: Hyrule

He emerged from the forest a few hours later. They had thinned out considerably since he had exited from the bridge.

He looked out over the field.

"Wooooooow!" crowed Navi.

Link felt really small.

In the distance he could see a rise with what looked like a farm. Beyond that, he saw a barren, rocky plateau area that looked like it was a herald to a vast desert beyond.

He looked left. A lake was far away.

He looked the other way. He saw a huge mountain with a circular cloud around it's peak. A river flowed out of a smaller sort of mountain closer to him. The river flowed toward a small town in the distance, and from there to a walled city situated between two mountains, whose range included the large one by the small village. Link gasped at how far he had to travel, because on the other side of that city was a castle.

He sucked it up and started walking, but before he had gone far, he heard a "HOOT!"

An owl soared toward him and landed on a tree in front of him.

"Ah, so you're the Kokiri the Tree told me about."

Link stared.

"Did I hit myself in the head really hard recently? Owls don't normally talk, right?" he asked Navi, but she ignored him.

"You knew the Great Deku Tree?" asked Navi.

"Of course. I'm Kaepora Gaebora. He asked me to watch over you on your journey. Now, I assume you know where you're going. That walled village is Hyrule Castle Town. The Royal Family's home, Hyrule Castle, is just past it. It'll take you nearly all day. Start now and you may get there by nightfall. But beware. If you think you may not make it by the time night falls, get to shelter immediately. Strange things have been happening to those who stay out past nightfall. Also, monsters lurk at night. Little skeletons with glowing eyes creep from the ground and attack. I have seen it happen. Do you understand Link?"

Link nodded.

"Good. Now go. I have wasted enough of your time. Go fast and do not stop for any reason." he said as he flew off.

Link took off, following a worn dirt path that led toward the town from the lake or vice versa.

Three hours passed as he walked. The sun was beginning to set. He saw the city in front of him maybe a mile away. A bell tolled from it and a shout went out that he could barely hear.

"Ten minutes till nightfall!"

Link started running toward the town as fast as he could.

As he neared it, he heard a sound like that of digging.

He turned around.

A small skeleton with glowing eyes was crawling out of the ground. It saw him and began to chase after him.

He ran even faster toward the city.

He heard shouts come from it as the one minute warning sounded.

More skeletons emerged and chased after him.

One of the watchmen shone a searchlight on him and sounded and alarm. Arrows flew from the wall and hit the skeletons nearest to him.

He soon made it to the drawbridge, but faltered. This was exactly the place where his dream occurred.

The drawbridge began to raise.

He shook himself from his reverie and jumped up and just barely caught the edge of the wood.

He quickly pulled himself up and rolled down the inside as the drawbridge closed.

A soldier came toward him.

"Ya cut tha' a li'le close, kid. Wha's a yung 'un like yerself doin' outside in th' field at this time o' night?"

"I was trying to get here." he said, huffing periodically and clutching at the stitch in his side.

"Well, don' do it again. We can' afford ta let those skeletons into th' ci'y. Not that they ain't easy to kill. Is just that there're too many o' them fer us ta handle, ya get mah meanin'?"

"Yeah. It won't happen again."

"It be'er won't. Wha's yer name anyway?"

"Link."

"Well, I dunno wha' ta say Link, but yer made o' tougher stuff than most o' us to see a horror like that and not freeze in yer tracks. I'm Malbor."

Then, Link heard a voice singing. It sounded close to his age.

"Now who could tha' be?" asked Malbor.

Link felt Navi, who was currently in his hat, stir. She had hidden herself when the skeleton came out.

Malbor just shook his head and returned to his post, muttering "Lucky they ain't organized. If they was to come all at once, we'd all be dead..."

* * *

**R&R, once again.**


	5. Malon

**Enter, my favorite girl character in all the Legend of Zelda, the farmgirl that Link SHOULD'VE gone to, Malon.**

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Chapter 5: Malon

Link ducked behind a house as he searched for the source of the singing.

The city was huge. There was a clearly defined path to the castle in the center of town. The closer to the castle he got, the more upscale the houses became. He easily began to tell where he was. On the west side of town was a rather large temple. He also used that as a navigating point.

He continued searching for the singing. He soon discovered a small square inthe direct center of town. And the singing was coming from a young, pretty girl about his age in it. She had long red hair, a white sort of dress, a red bandana around her neck, tied together by a medallion shaped like a dragon/dinosaur's head. (A/N: For those of you who haven't noticed, Malon does have a Bowser medallion in the game tying her bandana together)

She was singing a song that sounded strangely beautiful and melodic.

Even Navi, still scared out of her mind, came out of her resting place in his hat.

Her light alerted the girl to his presence.

She stopped and looked at him, looking somewhat afraid.

"Who- who are you?" she asked warily.

Link smiled and walked forward.

"Don't worry. I'm a friend." he said.

She saw Navi.

"Oh! You're a fairy boy from the forest! What's your name?"

"Link."

"I'm Malon. My dad Talon and I run the ranch in Hyrule Field. You ever been by it?"

"Not really."

"You should come by sometime. So why are you out at this time of night?"

"Just looking around. You?"

"I'm waiting on my dad. He went up to the castle a few hours ago and he hasn't come back."

She groaned.

"He probably fell asleep again."

They started walking up to the castle.

Without warning, a man dressed in all black jumped out.

"Gimme all yer rupees!" he shouted, stabbing a knife at them.

Malon gasped, but Link scoffed.

In less than ten seconds, he had shot a seed at his hand, knocking the knife out, then had chased him all the way up the street, but not before stealing his rupee bag, which he promptly gave to Malon.

"You... Wow. You're really brave." she said.

Link blushed and scratched the back of his head.

They walked up to the road to the castle.

They went up to one of the two guards who were at the gate.

"Umm, scuse me sir, but my dad went up to the castle. Can I go see if I can find him?" Malon asked timidly.

"Nope. Sorry, but no one is allowed to go up to the castle at night. Royal Family's orders."

Link had seen some hanging ivy earlier, so he went to it and showed it to Malon.

"I can go find your dad. I'll sneak right by those guards and they'll never know it."

"Thanks." she said.

She started to walk off.

"Oh, wait. Here. It'll hatch come morning, so have it squawk to wake my dad up. I've been nurturing it for a few months."

She gave him a small egg.

"Thanks Malon."

She smiled, nodded, and walked off.

He climbed up the wall and started sneaking by. Night was the perfect time to do it in. He hid behind a few bushes, ducked under trees, even tiptoed behind a guard as he walked toward the castle to avoid being seen.

He soon made it up to the giant castle. Inside, he saw a man sleeping by a cart with crates. He was rather large with a bushy moustache, a large nose, and overalls. Link looked at a clock on the wall and saw that it read 10:00. He figured he may as well get some sleep.

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**R&R again people.**


End file.
